Where every day in the kitchen is an adventure!

rice

There are so many Thai restaurants to visit in Newtown that sometimes the choice can be a little overwhelming! Recently a group of friends and I ended up in Newtown for dinner and wound up at Thai Passion and really enjoyed the food, service and great prices!

Coconut Juice $3.50.
I really enjoyed this start to the meal – coconut juice is always so refreshing and the coconut meat slices were perfectly tender and soft.

San Choy Bow (Chicken mince with shiitake mushroom and young corn in a crisp lettuce cup) $7.90
I really enjoyed this light choice for my dinner. The chicken filling was very flavoursome and was accented well by the crispy rice noodles in the lettuce cup. If you’re after a light meal, this would be a good choice as it was surprisingly filling eaten solo!

Chicken Laksa (Thai style curry noodle in a coconut milk soup) $12.90
The diner who chose this dish commented that the laksa was quite good quality with a hit of spice to it, but in general he prefers flavours of a Malaysian laksa to a Thai version, as it tends to feel more authentic.

Crying Tiger (grilled marinated beef served with thai nam jim jaew) $13.90
Tender slices of grilled beef marinated in Thai spices – this dish was a good pick of the evening.

Vegetarian Thai Fried Rice with egg $12.90
I sampled a spoonful of this fried rice and was surprised at the fantastic flavour that Thai Passion managed to bring out in such a simple dish. It had an almost saucy texture to the rice that made me seriously wish I had ordered this as well! Definitely would come back just to try this dish, as I have sampled many Thai fried rices over Sydney and really felt this one stood out of the crowd.

My dining companions were looking for some gluten and dairy free dessert options, so opted for the sticky rice cooked in banana leaf (minus the icecream). It looked like it had that chewy consistency that you can only get from sticky rice baked in banana leaves, and was a pretty good serving size for only $5.90. Might have been able to do a better job with the presentation (although this was served minus the usual addition of ice-cream, so maybe it looks better with that?)

There is a lot of stiff competition for Thai food in Newtown but I think that Thai Passion is definitely holding its own with good quality Thai food with great prices. Best dishes of the night were definitely the fried rice and the coconut juice. Service was friendly and helpful, which always makes a meal more enjoyable. We really enjoyed our meal and it’s definitely somewhere I would come again in future. It’s a short walk from Newtown station which is another plus for convenience. I also noted that they do $7.50 lunch specials which seem worth checking out (if only Newtown weren’t so far from my workplace!) Please note also (like many places), that they do not do split bills.

I’ve got good memories of rice pudding. It was my staple snack to grab while studying anthropology at Macquarie University. They sold it in the student supply shop in plastic cups, cold with cinnamon sprinkled on top and I would pick up cups on the regs to go study with.

Combine milk, rice, sugar and vanilla in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring every 5 minutes for 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender and creamy. Top with the sliced strawberries.

TIP: Add some crushed pistachios on top or stir through a few teaspoons orange blossom water or rosewater to the rice pudding.

About Me

Hi! I'm Christine - I'm a Sydney based chef student by day & food blogger by night. I love learning about food every single day and share my adventures with you here. Thanks for reading! You can contact me on christine@cookingcrusade.com - I'd love to hear from you!